Ante-natal care - just having a moan

[fifitot]

I have seen a different midwife everytime I have gone to the docs. I am also seeing a consultant for a couple of reasons and though I saw her twice early on to discuss a possible amnio I have seen a different registrar everytime I have been to the hospital. Each one has just repeated what the last one said and booked me in for a scan, with little explanation I might add - thnk they just copy the last entry on file.

Today took the biscuit though. I had a growth scan last week and baby was right for dates and registrar also did the measurement with a tapemeasure of fundal height which was 34 weeks.

Today MW did a quick measure which put me at 33 instead of 34 weeks. Now I know that these are hard to get right but essentially she said I am small for dates but 'nothing to worry about'. If she had bothered to even read my notes she would see that I was already on target and an ultrasound scan even had the actual estimated weight and there was a growth chart in my notes - she didn't even plot the growth on.

I couldn't even be arsed to challenge her on it. I just think it's a really poor show from them.

and i thought my care was bad! I feel that there is a severe lack of 'one to one' care from anyone...esp my midwife. I know she's busy etc but with five weeks to go iv had no mention of birth plan, after birth care, what to take to hospital etc. Many of my questions get fobbed off. my appointments dont last any longer than ten mins. Im also small for dates but she said 'it's fine' and doesnt bother with the charts.

Thought it was just me being a fussy hormonal so and so but i'm glad to see its not just me that thinks the standards are poor! sigh rant over hehe

Is this your first baby?

Fundal height measurement is notoriously inaccurate. Personally I'd be more inclined to trust a MW's measurements than a registrar, who won't necessarily have much experience.

I'm not quite sure why you think your care has been so poor?

Second baby. They said small one first time round and she was over 8 pound!

TBH - I didn't trust that midwife's measurement at all, especially as the detailed scan showed baby as spot on weight and size for 34 weeks. She clearly didn't bother to look at the chart print out in my notes or she would have seen her measurement was not the same.

My care has been poor llareggub due to the total lack of consistency - I might have expected to see SOMEONE more than once. I thought there was supposed to be some sort of continuity of care?

More annoying - today's MW clearly didn't read any of the notes on file or she would have known the measurements were not matching up. I think that is poor. There may have been other things in there she needed to know. Such as the fact I was diagnosed with Anaemia - no one has bothered to follow up whether I made arrangements for iron tablets or not - I have of course.

Also was thinking why they bother putting graphs in the notes if the midwives don't bother using them!

I think it's pretty typical for the NHS tbh. I know from experience with other health issues that it's usual for the patient to have to do most, or all, of the research and to have to hassle the doctors, etc and keep on top of what needs doing.

Just feels even worse this time round. Maybe as a second timer they think I don't need as much info/support? I haven't been offered AN classes at all either.

I think a lot of places are cutting back on AN classes. In our area they've gone to five classes, to two, and i'm now getting just one. Know this is better than nothing, but may be indicative of them cutting back generally iyswim.

I'm with you on this.
I've seen 3 different MV's so far (I'm 33wks.)
All have dismissed the questions I've asked e.g. Last time I asked about my bump going tight for a couple of hours at a time and she just said go to the hospital if you're worried!
All they do is check your blood pressure and write whatever they feel like (not what you've actually said) in your notes.
I'm a first-timer and I know I will have to rely on these people when I'm giving birth. Strangly I'm not scared of the birth itself, but their competance and lack of listening skills terrifies me!
As for the AN classes, no couples spaces left so I've been booked on a one day woman only one.

what difference would seeing the same person have made?

I really feel for you and I would be a bit a little bit miffed too.

I had what I thought was poor antenatal care upto almost 20 weeks so switched hospitals. I have had the same mw throughout at new hospital who has been an absolute star. I have felt really reassured, listened to and cared for which isn't a great deal to ask for I don't think and it proves it can be done and it can be done in a large busy London hospital too!

I think for some people seeing the same mw is important, it's a personal thing though and if you are not bothered then fine.

What difference would seeing the same person make? Well it might help build some kind of relationship especially given that my area has supposedly got a commitment to continuity of care. Isn't this what the community midwife service is supposed to be about? It would mean I might not get conflicting advice every time I ask a similar question and differential attitudes on each occasion. The fact that one MW says I am high risk for downs and another says I'm not, how one says my baby is small in the face of evidence to the contrary and one told me some total rubbish about something that showed up on the ultrasound scan. It wasn't even scientifically correct! The fact they don't bother to read the notes might not matter too much either, if it was the same person! I hardly think it's too much to ask.

If I was having a very straightforward pregnancy then I might have felt more relaxed about seeing a different person each time but unfortunately hearing different opinions from different people everytime has hardly made me feel reassured. Not reading my notes, giving me different measurements, not following up referrals, telling me one thing, another telling me something else.........I could go on.

fifitot you poor thing. I have been totally unimpressed by the care I have received from midwives too. The doctors seem ok when I see them though. I agree it would be much better to have continuity of care. I hate the way that they clearly dont read your notes. I have to give my history every time I see them!

I have had several MCs and am not a straightforward case. Amazingly though, when I last saw a MW (a different one to each previous occasion), and I was a bit weepy and worried, she said that I shouldnt worry because I was past the 12 week mark (i was 16 weeks) and i should pull myself together because she had had a miscarriage and hadnt been able to get pregnant since so i was in a better position than her! I am obviously sorry for her situation, but I am not quite sure why she thought that comment to be appropriate or in any way professional.

Have you thought about writing to your assigned consultant and asking to see them? Both of my parents are retired doctors and say that it is a good way to be taken seriously. The MWs often dont bother relaying any of your concerns.

Best of luck to you.

fifitot, I too have seen someone different every time so far (3 different MWs, 3 different student MWs, 2 different GPs, 2 different sonographers). They don't read the notes nor do most of them ask how I've been or if there have been any issues. In effect, this means everyone gets a momentary picture of how I am right then at the appointment, but nobody gets the bigger picture. If I had been developing prenatal depression, had been gaining too much weight, or anything else, there is simply no way on earth anyone could have picked up on it. I thought these antenatal appointments were supposed to be exactly for picking up on such things!

My pregnancy so far has been uncomplicated, and I can totally understand how much more worrying this would be if there were any problems. So I really feel for you.

To me it feels as if the whole system is geared towards "ticking boxes". 'Cause that's what they do when they see you, isn't it? It feels like they don't really care about you or your wellbeing but only about being able to say "but look, I ticked all the boxes, I did all I was supposed to do". Leaving it up to you to make sure you are indeed getting the care you need. If only it weren't so hard for us lay-people to judge if and what care we need! (Isn't that, in theory, exactly why we go see professionals?)

So you see, I'm quite as annoyed with the care as you are. And yet, there is another side to it. Sooner or later, we will have to take responsibility for those LOs growing inside us... There won't always be a "professional" around telling us what we should or shouldn't do with our babies, if we should or needn't worry. So whereas I do get annoyed (especially since the NHS pregnancy book makes it sound so different!), I do also see that this way, they are letting me get on with it without too much intervention. It's my body, my baby, why do I need someone to keep checking me up?
Though again, that's easy said as long as things are going well!

Thakns for the posts everyone.

Meita - I do agree with the last bit of yours to some extent, but they are the ones that put me under consultant care due to their concerns about a couple of things. Luckily for me I am quite a resiliant person and have a general sense of how this pregnancy is going - without their professional input really. If I was a first timer and prone to anxiety I think I would have been in pieces by now.

Just feel it's a poor service for women, though I know my situation may not be the same for everyone.

I have to say I paid for a private scan at 11 weeks and the sonographer I saw there was absolutely tremendous in terms of time spent with me and explaining things. I know we can't expect the same time on the NHS but it does make you think.

fifitot I think your midwife care (and many others on here) is jolly bad. Mine is no better and is in fact worse than when I was pregnant with DD1 3 years ago. The only constant I see is my GP who I see fortnightly due to hyperemesis and extreme fatigue, something neither midwife I have seen has taken any interest in whatsoever! When I gave birth to DD1 I was left in labour for far too long and ended up in the operating theatre having her pulled out with forceps. I am quite sure this wouldn't have happened if my midwife then had written about my extreme fatigue in my notes but she didn't because she didn't believe me!
It's rubbish but I don't have any ideas about how to improve things! - nice to have a moan though and find other people with crappy care too!

hi guys, feeling the same.

I had my first baby overseas and it was all private so had amazing care. Doing it NHS this time so don't really know the sysem but feel exactly like you described. I have bad SPD and am aneamic and also going down the VBAC route as last one was an emergency c section. Have never seen same person twice, explain history every time, finally asked to see consultant for second opinion re birth, am now 39 weeks and she was really crap. I burst into tears because I was in so much pain with the SPD and tired and hormonal and she didnt even bat an eyelid. Not much advice given just said see me in 2 weeks. I asked her about my birth plan as nobody has asked me about it or looked at it and she just said you must just fill it in the book. Soo, if I go into labour soon, which I hope cause had enough, nobody will no anything!!??

know anything, sorry!

Oh well at least it's not just me!

I want to use the birthing pool but MW says because I've had consultant care as well they won't let me unless consultant writes it will be OK on my notes. Consultant says it's nothing to do with her and up to the MW!

oh fifitot have the same problem. Midwife said I can't use the pool and then consultant said I should be able to, so can I or can't I????